Granulating machine



April 15, 1958 M. F. DE LUCA 2,830,770

GRANULATING MACHINE Filed March 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 60 zz M 1aINVENTOR. I l mlghael F: De. Luca Qg -W [ATTORNEY April 15, 1958 M. F.DE LUCA GRANULATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 12, 1954INVENTOk. michael EDe Lu. ca.

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ATTORNEY Uilit d States Pate'fi GRANULATING MACHINE Michael F. De Luca,Worcester, Mass.

Application March 12, 1954, Serial No. 415,783 8 Claims. (Cl. 241-73)This invention relates to granulating machines, and more particularly toa machine adapted for cutting, granulating, or pulverizing variousmaterials, such as scrap leather, plastics, etc.

.A conventional machine designed for this purpose has comprised a set ofstationary knives cooperating with blunt edged rotary knives which haveserved both to cut and to break the material into small particles by acombined cutting and impact action. A screen is located below the rotaryknives to separate the finely divided material from the largerparticles, but the screen tends to become clogged and the materiallodges between the knives so that the machine motor may be stalled orrequire aheavy power input. It is necessary to remove the screen atfrequent intervals for the purpose of cleaning it, and this should beaccomplished without interferin'gwith the accurate setting of theknives. Moreover, the stationary knives should be so adjustablypositioned that they may be easily set in cutting contact with the rotorknives to provide a required cutting action without dismantling themachine. Even more important is the need for a type of rotary knifewhich is primarily a cutting tool and which will aid in feeding thematerial to 'thecutting zone as distinguished from the centrifugalaction of hurling the uncut fragments outwardly. Moreover, the massivestructure of the rotor in a large size machine" has madeit difficult tosee the'interior of the machine when it has to be cleaned or the screenre moved or 'the knives inspected. Hence, there should be adequateaccess to the rotor without requiring remoral or disturbances of thestationary knives or a dismantling of the machine. It is also found thatwhen material is fed to the hopper above the rotary knives, a 'blast ofmaterial is thrown outwardly and may injure the operator, so that it isdesirable to provide a baffling gate which will admit the material andyet serve for the operators protection.

It is the primary object of this invention to overcome the abovedisadyantages and to provide a rigidly constructed granulating machinefor both large and small size units which may be economically built andefficiently operated for granulating various types of material.

'Ayfurther object is to provide a structure wherein the screen may beeasily removed for cleaning the machine andaocess may be had forinspecting the rotor knives but which does not require removing thestationary knives ordisturbing their settingrelative to the rotaryknives.

A still further object is to provide a granulating machine with a newtype of rotary cutting knife which will cut the fragmentary materialmore by a direct shearing action-than breaking it by impact and which isso shaped that it aids in feeding the fragments to the cutting zone andminimizes the power requirements.

Another, object is to provide a machine of this type with a bafilinggate in the feed hopper which will prevent any,,substantial amount ofthe pulverizing material from beingl-throwp outwardly when the operatoropens 1 preferably such that the rotor is power driven at a the hopperto feed the machine and yet will permit feed ing large fragments orpieces without obstruction within, Other objects will be readilyapparent in the following disclosure.

the hopper.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, showing a largesized granulator, the sectioned portions of the view being taken on theline 11 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section, partly broken away,

of the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly broken away, of a small,

sized type of granulator having the rotor carried in part by the motorshaft; V Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the machine of Fig.8

supporting legs 14. The casing parts 10 and 12 provide a substantiallycylindrical space for a massive rotor casting i required shape. Therotor 15 is integral with or has its ends shaped to form a shaft 16projecting] axially at both ends of the cutting zone. Two fly wheels; 18are preferably formed integral with the shaft l6butfl are shown asconnected thereto by keys 19.. These fly; wheels and the massive rotorblock 15 provide the needed v momentum to give a smooth cutting action.The upper casing member to has a flat top which supports and is; boltedto a feed hopper 26 (shown in Fig 4) cointiiunifi eating with the space21' within the upper casing. The

lower casing 12 is shaped to provide an exit space 22 for the materialthat has been granulated, and this corn-,, municates with hopper walls23 mounted within the table l 13 which directs the granulated materialinto a suitable receptacle 34 removably supported beneath the table. A.perforated metal screen 24 of suitable mesh is removably mounted belowbut out of contact with the rotor knives'f near the upper end of thepassage 22 in the lower casingl This screen holds the fragments inthecutting zone until fine enough to pass through the screen mesh. Theshaft ends 16 are suitably mounted in ball bearings 25 of stand; ardconstruction carried in upstanding walls 26 of thef 'i Screw caps 27suitably threaded to the arbor ends 16 hold the rotor in proper positionrela-" machine frame.

a suitable coupling 32 with 'a reduced projecting end 33 l of the rotorshaft, and the motor characteristics are sired constant speed.

special cutting knife construction.

a straight cutting edge 41 are adjustably mounted in a recess in theupper face of the lower casing 12 and at the junction between the uppercasing 14) with the lower part Patented Apr. 15, 1958 12. Each knife 40is a long, rectangular bar provided" with an elongated transverse slot42. A cap screw 43- has its head or a washer 44 suitably bearing againstthe" knife at the sides of the slot, and this cap screw is threaded intothe lower casing part 12 and serves to clamp the knife 40 in an adjustedposition. The knife may be thrust inwardly by means of a set screw 45suitably threaded into the lower casing body 12 after the cap screw 43has been cap screw 43 holds the knife rigidly in position. To

7 place or adjust. the knife, the' clamping: bolts H sto iomoved and theupper casing is lifted from contact with the lower casing, thus exposingthe knives 40. Each of the knives is preferably adjustably mounted thesame as is shown at the right hand side of Fig. 2.

Although a standard shape of knife may be employed with the otherfeatures of this machine, I have found that a superior efliciency is hadwith a special type of rotary knife. This rotary knife 50, shownparticularly in Figs. 2 and 5, has an extending claw-like projection 51provided with a sharp straight edge which is positioned and shaped toaid in feeding the material to the cutting edge 41 of the stationaryknife 49 and cut the same. These claw-shaped knives may be each made asan integral body of hardened steel, or the outer claw end 51 may be aseparate hard'body removably mounted on the inner portion of the knife.As shown, the central rotor body may be cut away to provide flat facednotches that permit the flat arm 52 of each knife to be mountedsubstantially radially of the rotor. Set screws 54 serve to removablysecure the arms of the claw knives on the rotor cutter block 15. It willbe appreciated that after these rotary cutter knives have been mountedin place with their cutting edges located at equal distances from theaxis of rotation, the stationary knives will be suitably adjusted sothat the respective cutting edges will just clear and so cut materialadequately therebetween.

The shape of the cutter knife may be varied somewhat, but it isdesirable that this part be primarily a knife and not a breaker hammerand yet that it have suflicient strength and mass to deliver a neededimpact blow to the material and force the knife therethrough. As shownin Figs. 2 and 5, a claw-like projecting portion 51 of the cutter knifeis arranged at substantially right angles to a radius of the rotor andto the face of the arm portion 52 of the tooth. The outer face 55 of theclaw may be flat or it may be ground to the arc of a cylinder so thatthe whole face will make a substantially rubbing contact with the edge41 of the stationary knife and thus minimize any tendency for materialto clog between the two knives. The claw projects forwardly in thedirection of rotation so that its edge may be considered as a peripheralportion of an imaginary cylinder around the rotor. The included angle atthe cutting edge 51 of the claw subtended between the two convergingfaces of the V-shaped claw is between 20 and and preferably from 40 to50 although considerable variation may be had. However, if the angle istoo acute, the cutting knife will be unnecessarily thin and thereforweak and unable to withstand the shocks of the granulating action. Ifthe angle is too blunt or appreciably greater than about 60, the knifewill then serve more as a breaker hammer than a cutter. Hence, it ispreferable that this edge be reasonably sharp and lie within thespecified angular requirements which provide a thick portion or heavymass at the back of the tooth to aid in driving the tooth edge throughthe body being cut.

This claw type of cutter knife or tooth tends to grab the material andto move it forward into the cutting zone between the two knives. Theoversized material is held above the arcuate shaped screen 24 and theclaws seize that material and hurl it upwardly against the left handstationary knife 40. Similarly, the claws above the rotor block grab thematerial that is coming down through the chute 21 and force it againstthe right hand stationary knife 40. In this structure, the claw knivesforce the material into the cutting zone rather than leaving the feedingaction to a matter of chance as determined largely by the gravity of thematerial descending through the upper hopper and the rotary motion ofthe knives. A suitable number of stationary knives are provided. The twoshown are arranged substantially diametrically of the rotor. Also, theremay be any suitable number of the claw knives 50 on the rotor, onlythree being shown for the sake of clarity of illustration. It is also,feasible to set the knives at an angle to the rotor 4 axis and grindtheir cutting edges to lie in a cylinder, so that they are shaped asparts of a helix.

An important feature of this construction provides for inspection andremoval of the screen 24. This screen is shaped as an arcuate portion ofthe periphery of a cylinder and is arranged concentric with the axis ofthe rotor, so as to maintain a screening surface at a desired distancefrom the rotor knives. The screen has outwardly extending flanges 60which are removably supported on blocks 62 which may be hollow or asdesired. The lower casing Wall 12 is provided with an opening, andpreferably one on each side of the rotor, in which a closure block 62 isremovably positioned. The block may be substantially a parallelopipedonin shape and is as long as the screen. Each block is provided with agroove 64 within which a flanged end 60 of the screen 24 lies, and theupper faces of these flanges may, if desired, be engaged and clampedinto position by the upper casing 10, although this clamping action isnot necessary. The blocks 62 are removably held in place by the bolts 11which secure the upper casing 10 to the lower casing 12. Each bolt, asshown in Fig. 2, projects downwardly through a thin portion of the lowercasing 12 above the opening carrying the block and it is threaded intothe upper wall of the removable block 62, so that the clamp bolt 11serves to draw that closure block up against the under face of thecut-out portion of the casing part 12 and at the same time to clamp thetwo casing parts 10 and 12 securely together. It will thus be seen thatby removing the bolts 11 from threaded engagement with the blocks 62,the latter may be slid outwardly and the screen 24 then removed througheither opening as thus provided These block openings are suflicientlylarge so that the operator may see readily into the casing and determinethe knife settings or for other purposes.

A simplified and smaller type of granulating machine is shown in Figs. 3and 4. In this construction, the granulator rotor 70 is carried at oneend directly by the shaft 71 of the constant speed electric motor 72which drives the rotor. The shaft 71, which is suitably mounted inhearings in the motor casing, is connected by a key 74 to the granulatorrotor 70. The rotor is bored axially at one end to provide a socket forthe projecting end 71 of the motor shaft. A long cap screw 75 threadedinto a socket in the outer end of the motor shaft 71 projects through anaxially bored hole in the rotor, and the head of this cap screw engagesa shoulder in the bore and so holds the parts together. This cap screwmay be suitably adjusted or removed by means of a screw driver. Thus thegranulator rotor is carried at its left hand end solely by the bearings(not shown) of the electric driving motor.

The right hand end of the rotor 70 is carried in ball bearings 76suitably mounted within a central opening in an annular cap 77 which isbolted by cap screws 78 to the casing wall 79 of the granulator. Theinner and outer raceways of the ball bearings 76, which may be ofsuitable construction, are carried within the central opening of cap 77.They are located by shoulders on the rotor 70 and cap 77 and held inplace by a further small cap 81 that is secured by cap screws to thelarger cap 77. A circular flange on the small cap engages the outerraceway as shown. The casing 79 forms a vertical hollow pipe-likestructure having short arcuate walls shaped to define a space withinwhich the rotor 70 and its knives 82 may revolve. The knives may be madeas above described. The stationary knives 83 are mounted in elongatedbosses 84 projecting diametrically from the casing. The bosses arerecessed internally to provide space for the elongated knife body ofrectangular cross section. Set screws 85 threaded through the ends ofthe boss engage the long back of the knife 83 and serve for adjustingthe two ends of the knife inwardly. A cap screw 86 suitably threadedthrough the wall of the boss 84 serves to fix the knife 83 in astationary position relative to the rotor. Thus, in this construction,the

twostationary knives are. put into place from the inside of the casingand may be readily adjusted.

. The rotor 70 may have formed integral therewith two fly. wheels 87which have suflicient mass to provide a required momentum, but these maybe omitted and the casing parts shaped accordingly to provide a closure.The left hand fly wheel 87 is located in a circular opening 90 in theleft handcasing wall, and the right hand fly wheel 87 is shaped to fitinside the cap 77. The left hand wall of theigranulator casing may besuitably connected to the ,motor casing. As shown, the wall may have acircular groove 91 interfitting with a projecting circular flange 92 onthe electric motor casing, and screws 93serve to .hold the granulatorwall rigidly in position relative to, the motor casing. i

The screen 94,which maybev made of metal and provided with suitablysized openings therethrough for the passage of the powdered material,lies beneath the rotor in the space provided by the upwardly flaringwalls 95 of the rotor casing. The screen is located just belowthe,stationary knives 83 with its edges close to or engaging the' knivesand so is held from turning in' its setting It will be evident that thecasing may be removed from the rotor bytakirig out cap .screws 93. Sincethe ball bearings are carried by the cap 81 fastened to the casing 77,this serves to slide the ball bearings off the end ofthe rotor shaftbutleaves the rotor supported at its left hand end on the motor shaft.The rotor 70 may be removed from the motor shaft by taking'out theconnecting cap screw 75 from the shaft 71 of the electric motor. Also,desired, the eridcap 77 with its ball bearings, cap 81 and the rotorwithits fly wheels may be taken out. through the righthand opening in thecasing wall without disassembling the latter from the electric motorcasing. This provides for-removal or cleaning the upper gate 101, thegate 101 moves inwardly and the" of .the screen. Thelowerportion 'of thehollow casing connects through a. suitable passage95 formed by bafflewalls under the table 96, whichrca'rriesthe granulator.

and motor, to a receptacle suitablylo'cated for receiving the granulatedmaterial.

Another feature of the invention, which is also employed in theconstruction of Fig-1, but not shown therein for lack of space,comprises hinged gates 100 and 101 so mounted inside the hopper 20 as toprevent material from being thrownoutwardly, into the face of theoperator when he attempts to feed the granulator. This hopper 20, whichis removably bolted to the top of the granulator-casing, mavhaveanoutwardly projecting platform 102 onto which the fragmentslto bepulverized are laid The, hopper is closed at the top by wall 103 whichhas a hinged or removable'cover 107 providing direct access. from aboveto the interior of the hopper. The interior of the hopper issubstantially unobstructed so-that large-pieces orfragments of materialmay be fed to the knives.

The upper gate 101 is fixed on a hinge pin 105 suitably mounted forrotation in holes in the opposite casing walls. The hopper walls 20, thetop 103 and the gate 101 form a complete enclosure'above the rotor, sothat during normal operation of the machine any material thrown upwardlyby the knives is compelled to fall back into the granulating zone. Thelower gate 100 is also fixed on a hinge pin 106 rotatively carried bythe opposite casing walls, and that gate 100 normally lies in aninoperative and non-obstructing position close to the hopper wall. Thetwo pins 105 and 106 project beyond one casing wall where they carryrigidly fixed thereto two arms 108 and 109, respectively. These arms areconnected at their outer ends by a pivoted linkage 110. Thus, the arm108 is fixed relative to the swinging gate 101 so that the two partsmust move together and the arm 109 is fixed to move with the gate 100,and the link 110 compels them to move together. When the operator liftson the outside arm 108 or 109 or pushes material against gate is swungtowards the right to close off the lower portion of the passage in thehopper. These gates and linked arms are so constructed that the lowergate 100 will be swung up far enough into the hopper to prevent materialfrom being hurled past it when the upper gate is opened sutficiently topermit a new charge to be dropped into the hopper. This charge will lieon the lower gate until its weight is adequate or manipulation of thegate by the operator will serve to drop the charge intothe granulatorlThe operation of the machine will be apparent from theabove disclosure.The stationary knives are suitably adjusted relative to the rotaryknives, and the motor drive serves to cut the material between the twosets of knives. The claw shape of the rotary knives drags the materialupwardly from the screen and downwardly from the hopper entrance intothe cutting zone of the asso* ciated stationary knife. These claws areparticularly effective whenlarge pieces of scrap, for example, are fedinto the hopper. Such a machine requires frequent inspection andcleaning or removal of the screen below the knives. This is effected inthe construction shown in Fig. 2 simply by removing the closure block 62from .one or both of the walls of the casing, and the screen is left inposition and by removal of the cap screws 93 the granulator casing maybe moved laterally toward the right and away from the electric motor.Since the bearings 76 are supported on the annulus 77, which in turn iscarried by the casing 79, this serves to remove the bearings intact andto leave the rotor hanging from the motor shaft with its right hand endfree. This provides for removing and cleaning the screen 94. The gatesin the hopper form a safety device. When the upper swinging gate 101 ispushed open either by crowding material past it or by lifting upwardlyon the outside linkage and its connected arms, this serves to swing thelower gate 100 upwardly to a position where it closes the bottom of thehopper and prevents the outward passage of the granulating material. Thenew charge rests on the lower gate 100 until it is ultimately droppedinto the granulater, when the upper gate swings back to a closedposition.

It will now be appreciated, in view of the above disclosure, thatvarious modifications may be made in this granulating machine and thatthe different inventive features hereof may be employed in other relatedconstructions. Hence the specification is to be interpreted asdescribing preferred embodiments of the invention and not as imposinglimitations on the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A granulating machine comprising a casing providing a granulatingchamber having an outlet passage therebeneath and an upper inlet passagefor feeding material to be cut, at least one stationary cutter knifemovably mounted on and having a beveled cutting edge projecting inwardlyfrom the casing, means for adjustably fixing the blade in position, apower driven, massive fly wheel type of rotor rotatably mounted in saidchamber which has knife supporting surfaces, a set of rotary claws, eachshaped as an outwardly projecting longitudinal arm terminating in aV-shaped knife projecting laterally thereof in the direction ofrotation, means for securing the claw arms on said surfaces of the rotorin a balanced relationship, each stationary and rotor knife having afective length of the chamber, each rotor knife revolving close to andcooperating with the entire effective length of the beveled edge of thestationary knife for a shearing operation and having an outer peripheralface which lies substantially in the cylindrical path of revolution ofthe knife edge and substantially in a plane with the outer beveled faceof the stationary knife where the knife edges meet for a shearingaction, the inner face of each V- shapcd knife making an angle of from20 to 60 with the outer peripheral face of the claw and projectingforwardly to provide a space radially inwardly of the cutting edge whichinsures that the rotary claw picks up and delivers the material to theblades and that only the rotary knife edge strikes the materialinitially at cutting contact in a shearing action, and a screen beneathand close to the claw knives which passes only the finer granularmaterial to the outlet passage.

2. A cutter according to claim 1 in which the claw shaped knife has acutting edge and a thick back formed by two converging faces subtendingan angle at the knife edge which is substantially between 40 and 50.

3. A granulating machine comprising a casing having two separablesuperimposed upper and lower casting parts providing a granulatingchamber therebetween and an upper inlet and a lower exit passagetherefor, said parts having opposed upper and lower faces, inwardlyprojecting stationary cutter knives movably mounted for in- Wardadjustment between said faces, means for adjusting each knife inwardlyand fixing it in a cutting position, means for removably securing thecasting parts together, a power driven rotor mounted within the casingchamber which has rotary knives cooperating with the stationary knivesto cut material therebetween, a hopper communicating with the inletpassage above the rotor for delivering material to the knives, anarcuate screen below the rotor and above the exit passage, said lowercasting part having a closure opening below and remote from said upperface and the stationary knife and opposite to the normal screen positionwhich has its vertical and longitudinal dimensions greater than those ofthe screen and is sized for ready removal of the screen therethrough,and a removable closure block for the opening which supports the screenand provides access to and removal of the screen without disturbing anyknife setting.

4. A granulating machine according to claim 3 in which the lower part ofthe casing has an upper surface provided with recesses carrying thestationary knives and arranged for replacement thereof when the uppercasing part is removed, and means for securing the casing parts andclosure block together and holding the screen in position.

5. A granulating machine comprising a casing having upper and lowerseparable casing parts forming a granulating chamber, a hopperthereabove and a screen below, a set of inwardly projecting, adjustablymounted stationary knives mounted on the top of the lower casing partandprojecting into said chamber, a power driven rotor axle projecting atboth sides of the chamber, a massive rotor within the chamber which isrigid with the axle, said rotor having knives thereon cooperating withthe stationary knives to cut material therebetween, fly Wheels on'eachend of the rotor axle outside of the granulating chamber, bearings forboth ends of the rotor axle located outside of the chamber and said flywheels and mounted. on the lower casing part and removably positioned bythe upper casing part, said rotor and fly wheels being removable as aunit with the bearings when the upper casing part has been removed, saidlower casing wall having an exit for granulated material and a lateralopening below its top and remote from the stationary knives which issized and arranged for the removal of the screen therethrough, and 'aclosure block for said opening which is removable without disturbing theknives.

6. A granulating machine comprising a casing Wall defining a granulatingchamber, stationary knives on the casing wall which adjustably projectinto the chamber, a rotor having knives cooperating with the stationaryknives for cutting material therebetween, a screen mounted below therotor, an electric motor casing fixed relative to said wall, an electricmotor in said casing having a projecting shaft, means for removablysecuring one end of the rotor to the motor shaft so that said'end issupported solely by the motor, bearings for the free end of the rotor,

and a support for the bearings removably mounted on the wall, saidsupport and bearings being removable as a unit so as to expose therotor.

7. A granulating machine according to claim 6 in which the bearingsupport is an annulus surrounding the bearings and'adjacent rotor endand comprising a cap secured to the annulus which holds' the hearings inan assembled relation to the annulus, so that removal of the annulusseparates the bearings from the rotor and leaves the rotor supportedsolely by the motor shaft.

8. A granulating machine according to claim 7 in which the screen is anarcuate body and the casing wall has upwardly flaring side portionssupporting the screen below the stationary knives, the casing wallhaving an opening closed by the annulus and cap which provides forremoval of the screen therethrough.

References Cited in the filevof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS512,958' Guild Jan. 16, 1894 1,699,944 Ball Jan. 22, 1929 2,171,949 Rocaet al Sept. 5, 1939v 2,225,781 Hinerfeld Dec. 24, 1940 2,326,682 RoddyAug.'10, 1943 2,381,775 Roddy Aug. 7, 1945 2,669,271 Treckmann Feb. 16,1954

